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Yes would love to hear others' thoughts on this too..I was actually thinking of putting up a post about hesitation. I'm not super aggressive but I do like to apply pressure and move forward in sparring. Can't seem to apply this, as well as my strength, in fights yet and instead find myself holding back and not following up or just standing around waiting for my opponent to do something. I've been training for around 1.5 years and have had 2 fights, so I've just assumed it's lack of ring experience.

My head coach is a westerner, and interestingly he makes me go under the ropes in a fight. We don't have a ring at our gym so I'm not sure if he would still make females go under in a training setting. I'm not sure how I feel about it as a feminist, but I do have deep respect for my coach and my understanding is that it's part of the Thai tradition and he just wants to keep it that way on the night. He definitely has no problem with men and women sparring and clinching together (often regardless of size and experience) and gives equal attention to both sexes when it comes to fight training.

I think there is a time and place for hard sparring, and that's if you're training for an upcoming fight. Light-to-medium intensity is adequate for drills and sparring depending on who you are partnered with. If you're doing conditioning, then it's fine to go harder. If you're on pads or the bag, then sure..go crazy. There is a lot more to muay thai and fighting than power. I feel like if we're trying to beat the crap out of each other all the time we're not able to work on more important things such as flow, timing, technique, balance etc.

My gym has a lot of females now, I reckon it's around 50:50 most days. The majority have only been around a few months or don't take it super seriously, so when it comes to sparring it's just about gauging where the other person's at and adjusting to their level of skill and intensity. When it comes to padwork, I don't really mind who holds as long as they try. If they can't hold for combinations, I'll just work on speed, technique, etc. I am lucky in that there are at least a handful of women at roughly the same level as me, and many that want to do their first interclubs. Naturally, most of the guys do stick together but our coach occasionally tells all of us to find somebody of the opposite sex to spar and clinch with. I enjoy sparring with guys because I feel like some of the emotions that come with sparring women sometimes aren't there (there may have been another thread about this). I think there are a number of guys that avoid going with a female, and that's fine because we have a lot of people to train with. For me it's important that I train with the guys, not only because there are more skilled guys than women at my gym, but also to show them that women can excel in this sport and they can learn a lot of things from pairing with us too.

Oh my god..sorry to hear this happened to you too! Hopefully the discomfort will go away by the end of the week. Yep, I remember dropping to the ground too..the only time I have ever been speechless. On the bright side, it really conditioned me for hits to that region..I barely give it a second thought now when someone accidentally teeps or even lands a knee there that's not as hard as the one that cut me :teehee:

Just saw this article on The New Yorker which made me think of this thread. http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/mixed-martial-arts-meets-khmer-boxing

So my injury was bad for the first two days, but started to feel better on the third day. I'd say after a week I didn't really think about it at all. My lobloo arrived just in time for my fight. Despite not having tested it out in training I decided I'd wear it for my fight. Really glad I did because my opponent was short and I remember her throwing two or three hard kicks/knees into that region. All in all, good purchase! Thanks Sylvie for the write-up and discount.

Thanks! Got the win by unanimous decision, it was a great experience. The day before the fight I decided I would wear contacts so I could be completely confident on the night. However, one of my friends was doing her first interclub that same morning and had one of her lens split in her eye on the first punch (the ref ended the match early). So I finally decided that I would not wear contacts and suck it up! I made sure I checked all the stairs and entrance to the ring before it was my time to go, so it didn't end up being much of a problem after all.

I have my first fight on a proper show this weekend and am debating whether or not to wear contact lenses. I think I'm leaning towards not wearing them as I don't want to risk any accidents or distractions, and I know that once I'm in the ring in front of my opponent I'll be okay. It really is more of a confidence issue as I have sparred and fought in interclubs without lenses. Although, I seem to have a bit of trouble with finding my distance but that could be due to other factors beyond bad eyesight. I've been trying to do a lot of visualisation in the lead up and it makes me nervous to think that I'll walk out there and potentially not be able to see any faces or where I'm stepping. I think it'll be a good idea to get there early and have a good look at the venue on the night. Will report back

It's great that you want to keep up your practice outside of the gym. Working technique on the thai pad is a good idea. You could tie it at different heights too for leg kicks, head kicks, and sweeps. For a convenient way to get your fitness in, you could do tabata. Don't need any big spaces and only takes 4 minutes in total (20 seconds all out - 10 seconds rest, repeat 8 times). For example, 1st set running on the spot as hard as you can - rest - 2nd set jab crosses as fast as you can - rest - 3rd set burpees - rest - 4th set alternating knees - rest - 5th set repeat the 1st set...etc If you want to work sparring but don't have a partner, you could try to visualise when shadowboxing.

Wasn't a deep cut or anything, more like a tear so about a week's recovery I reckon. I've had knees and teeps to the pubic bone before but the pain of those now seem to pale in comparison. I had my knee raised high in a defensive position while clinching and my sparring partner (who panicked) delivered a hard knee right up there. Looking forward to trying the Lobloo - will report back.

I think it's time I get one of these.. just got cut down there from a knee (yep, cut).

1) Fight more 2) Increase overall strength with bodyweight training 3) Improve on footwork and hands 4) Rehabilitate labral tear in hip with consistent strenthening exercises 5) Learn to use my reach better

I'd also really like to hear from anyone with experience in this area...I'm pretty short-sighted (around -5 in both eyes). I normally wear glasses, but I train without any lenses. I wore contacts when I first started but I couldn't be bothered keeping it up and a few times when I got punched in the eyes, the contacts moved or irritated my eyes. I've worn contacts in my interclub fights, but I've only done a few so I can't say whether they really make a difference...but they do make you feel more confident on the day, especially as you'll be placed in an unfamiliar environment. I think we're always going to be at a slight disadvantage if we fight "blind", but if you train most of the time without them you can definitely learn to fight without them. Well done on getting your first fight, and best of luck!

I use the Shock Doctor Ultra STC. It's great because the mould is really lightweight and comfortable, but the mouthguard still feels snug and protective. It's also one of the only mouthguards I can breathe properly out of because it's got these little holes in it.

Never heard of only breathing in and out through the nose but would be curious to hear from anyone here that does this. I breathe in through the nose and try to breathe out through the mouth on each strike. I generally don't scream loudly unless I'm really trying to build up power during padwork (it also helps when I'm really exhausted on the pads), but I do make a noise. I'm still trying to work on breathing consistently in sparring though. When I'm thinking too hard about going lightly or countering attacks, I tend to hold my breath or breathe in through the mouth.

Yes, mental fatigue is a real thing. Maybe you could teach yourself to 'switch off' when you're at training, so you can use that time for yourself to just focus on muay thai and have fun..just for that hour or two try to not think about your studies, work, etc. For me, I know it's not a good idea to fight or train for a fight when I have a heavy study load or other things going on in my personal life. Sometimes I just want to train without having to worry about training for a fight. Sometimes it's good to take the pressure off so muay thai doesn't become another stressor.

Most people at my gym prefer the speed rope, but I think it's just because they haven't used the heavy rope long enough to get used to it and it can be a painful process when you're starting to skip with it. I agree that the heavy rope is good for warming up the upper body. I find the speed rope is better for warming up my legs, but if you can sprint quite well using the heavy rope it's probably about the same.

I don't know of anyone who has cross-trained in ballet, but I'm sure there's something to be gained from it. Whether or not there are other methods or disciplines that would better improve your muay thai than ballet is a different question. I do BJJ once or twice a week, but just out of interest in the sport itself. I've only just started so I'm yet to see if that improves my stability/strength in the clinch. I do cross-train in western boxing once a week and it has improved my boxing technique but I haven't taken any sparring classes yet. You might enjoy this article if you haven't already come across it :) The Muay Thai Fighter and the Ballerina: A Portrait of Two Artists

At my gym we are generally told to take our gloves and wraps off before clinching so we don't scratch each other's faces with any velcro. I would prefer to clinch with gloves as this is what happens in fights, but instead I just ball my fists up a little bit and try to not to use my fingers to grip.

8am - muesli/oats with full fat milk, or a milo, sometimes bacon and egg sandwich 9-10am - piece of fruit 10-11am - snack food (nuts, dark chocolate, crackers/oat biscuits) 12pm - leftovers, usually meat/veg casserole with rice, pasta dish, or meat/veg stir fry with rice 1-2pm - another piece of fresh fruit (usually banana, kiwi or orange) 2-3pm - more snacking 6 - 7:30pm - training On days when I train 7:30-9pm - I'll usually have eaten some dinner before coming to training, then will eat dinner again when I get home Dinner is usually stir fry, casserole, pasta (mince beef, kale, carrots), pizza or takeaway v. occasionally - nothing I really keep track of, just as long as it has carbs, vegies and protein. No supplements so far, just take magnesium and fish oil. Am considering increasing protein intake with a shake or something. I train muay thai 4-5 times a week, boxing 1 night a week, and am starting to incorporate bjj 1-2 times a week Weight: 47kg/103 lbs

I've picked up a lot of techniques from YouTube that I hadn't come across before in training, but that said, I also think it would be difficult to start from scratch using YouTube. You may learn how to punch and kick, but how do you know that you're doing it properly when there isn't anyone there to critique you? Hell, I've been training muay thai 3-5 times a week at a gym for almost a year now and I'm only just starting to understand how to use my body efficiently to throw a proper jab, cross. If all I was doing was watching videos and then training in my garage with a bag, I probably wouldn't have realised I was doing anything wrong. I see YouTube as more of a complimentary resource, e.g I might see a combination I haven't done before, and I'll try to incorporate it the next time I spar in training. I think you can get a lot out of online videos if you have a solid foundation and available sparring partners/trainers.